Wirehead Studios

Headline:  Environmental Concerns Threaten Solar Power Expansion in California Desert
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517053,00.html

Maybe I missed something here, but I thought solar power was the holy grail of "green" technologies.  Nevermind that deserts are anything but green, and yes I know the concerns about lack of water in the desert.  It's called a desert for a reason, after all.  When it comes to power generation, here's a look at how things stack up:

Oil:  Plentiful, but produces CO2.  CO2 is "bad".  Fail.
Coal:  Plentiful, cleaner than oil, but still produces CO2.  CO2 is "bad".  Fail.
Gas:  Produces CO2.  CO2 is "bad".  Fail.
Nuclear Fission:  Doesn't produce CO2, but produces nuclear waste.  That's scary.  Fail.
Nuclear Fusion:  Nobody can get it to work.  Nuclear anything is scary.  Double Fail.
Hydro power:  Diverting rivers changes ecosystems and hurts wetlands.  Fail.
Wind power:  Ugly and noisy.  Can't put them everywhere.  Big turbines kill birds like eagles.  Triple Fail.
Geothermal.  Not cost effective.  Requires drilling holes in the earth.  Fail.
Solar:  Sun doesn't shine all the time.  You'll screw up the desert.  Fail.
Zero point energy generation:  Black hole will swallow the earth!  Fail.
Hamster in a wheel:  Cruel to hamster.  Hamsters exhale CO2.  CO2 is "bad".  Fail.
Basically anything you do:  Fail.

The only thing you can do is go extinct it seems.

Very funny.  I think there's a lot of energy which just seems to be overlooked.  From the time I was little, I always wondered why people have spent centuries developing technology that runs off burning fuel and explosions.  I think if mankind had spent all its time looking into utilising things such as gravitational forces (and subsequently tidal forces) and magnetic fields.  But maybe those things weren't financially lucrative, and we all know that's all that matters.

Forget the hamster wheels, we need to start putting Americans on exercise bikes. We can take care of the world's energy needs and the country's obesity problems all in one shot!

:P what an great idea ~Va^^pyrA~ :)

Well yeah there will always someone to oppose certain types of technology
Mostly i rember the talk about before they tried CERN or whatever it was called.. "omg doomsday! they will create a black hole and destroy the earth!!!"

Unfortunately the powers that be in governments and industry, banking, etc, decided that America should be a nation of consumers instead of a production nation, so that's exactly what they got.  The sad part is individual Americans are pretty much victims in all of this.  The amount of marketing-induced mind control is staggering, and the educational system doesn't really help much either.  The world bred a nation of consumer whores and now it likes to complain about their consumption, while relying on that consumption for the world's economies to function.  Is it any surprise that Americans have weight problems as a result?  I've also read about what goes into processed foods, and the health effects vs natural food.  It's pretty scary, and I think leads to a lot of, if not all of, the health problems people are facing in the industrialized world, obesity included.

~Va^^pyrA~, that is an excellent idea, at least on the surface.  Technologically it's feasible to offset one's power consumption with a properly designed generator attached to a bicycle or what have you.  The benefits would be a win-win for certain.  The only real problem is motivating Americans to get away from the television and onto the exercise equipment.  So long as there's 2,000+ digital cable and satellite channels and constant bombardment of advertising for unhealthy foods to eat while sitting stationary and watching said television, it's going to be a motivational fail.

Reminds me of a quote:
(http://www.bitterfilms.com/rejected-4-300.jpg)

Rejected Toons ftw! :hail:

the only feasible clean energy solution i see working is for liberals to invent a generator that runs on their own sense of self satisfaction.  :doom_thumb:

A classic simpson's reference...

NEVIS looks interesting -- not clean, but a nice intermediary if it gets into mass production.